Some more finishing questions: what to do with mess ups?

[JoshK]

I know we have a ton of finishing threads. That really does make this forum one of the most valuable in my mind for building speakers. However, I have a question about what to do with errors already made.

As careful as I tried to be, I still managed to get a tiny bit of glue on the veneer face. I used a wet rag to wipe up one small spot. Another went unnoticed until it dried (a drip). :M

So now I am at a conundrum. The veneer in question is african ribbon mahogany and I had intended to use shellac + anoline dye (thanks to this forum) to go for a bombay mahogany look. I like it dark. Now I am afraid that I will have small spots that won't take the dye.

So do I forget it and just finish with straight shellac? Or is there anything that can be done about either or both flubs? Anything that can clean up a post-humous glue drip?

I am planning to make a scrap piece of wood with veneer on it for experimenting with the dye to get what I was looking for, I could try to recreate the botches and see how they take the dye and how bad it might look.

Another idea I had was to try to lightly burn the small areas that had glue so it looks like a more natural wood defect and go ahead with the dye. It would look more natural than a light spot.

[Dennis H]

You may be able to scrape or sand off the spot that dried. Practice on some scrap. The one with the wet rag is more of a problem. The water just soaks it into the wood. The best way to get glue off if you spot it in time is to wait until the glue gets gooey but not hard and use a razor-sharp chisel at ~90 degrees to scrape it off.

[---k---]

I was also going to recommend using a wood scraper to scrape it off. Check to see if you get it all by wiping with denatured alcohol to make the glue show up.

[JoshK]

thanks guys

[sawdust]

Shellac is wonderful stuff, just realize in case you didn't know that it will turn white with any water exposure. A more durable topcoat over it is recommended IF subject to possible water damage... a drink on top of the speaker for instance.

Good luck and I agree with the scraping method for glue removal.

[jbateman]

You don't see them used much anymore, but a veneer punch can remove a defect, then punch out a replacement insert from a matching piece of veneer.
You could probably DIY one out of copper pipe. Sometimes you can cut out the flawed piece with an Xacto knife and replace it, but if it's in a high visibility area it may look worse than the glue spot.

http://www.veneersupplies.com/product_info.php?products_id=190

A last ditch could be to just complete the finish with glue spot, then color in the flawed area with some of the dye mixed in with your shellac. These microbrushes are useful for tiny repairs.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=45857&cat=1,190,43034&ap=1

Or touch up markers.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=20067&cat=1,190,42997

[JoshK]

See that is why I ask on these forums. I didn't know about veneer punches. The markers are also something to consider. Thanks again.

[bobhowell]

You can really get creative and get some artist paint colors. Then after removing what you can of the blemish and dyeing, put on a coat of diluted oil finish(linseed oil cut with 2 parts paint thinner/one part oil). You will then see what you have accomplished. Then take the artist colors and literally paint on VERY Lightly, with a very small artist brush, grain, similar to what is around it. At this stage you can back up if you don't like it. This is how age is added to a reproduction piece. It is finished light and then more of the same color is added to simulate age, or , in this case grain. Think about it; grain is variations in color. Then you see how to proceed.

Once you have what you like you can finish it with shellac. Use dewaxed shellac, and you can cover it later with polyurethane. Hold off on the poly till you are happy with the look. It is easy to reverse the shellac, but the polly must be striped to reverse. Thats why I stop at shellac.

The diluted oil will POP out the grain beautifully, better than shellac, but the same as poly.

Note: Artist colors are fine, solid pigment suspended in oil, usually linseed oil, the same thing as the oil finish you used in the proceeding step.

Good luck

Bob Howell